Why we need to write things down

In Contracts class we learned that some contracts require a writing to be enforced and others don't (statute of frauds).  There's a lengthy list of what needs a writing and what does not, but one of the main things to remember is that if a contract can be completed within one year, then it is not within the statute (this is for performance contracts... if you contract to buy goods it's a different story, but that's another rousing tale for another time).

So if performance can't be completed within one year from when the agreement was made, the agreement needs a writing.  It doesn't matter if it ends up taking more than a year - it just matters if it was theoretically possible.  In my book, there is a special bullet for "lifetime contracts."  As in "I employ you for the rest of your life."  Does that need to be in writing?

In the state of New York, yes!  Write it down!!
But on the multi-state exam, nope!  And why is this, you wonder???????

Oh, here's the explanation:
"A contract measured by a lifetime (e.g. a promise to 'employ until I die' or 'work until I die') is not within the Statute because it is capable of performance within a year since a person can die at any time."

Thanks a lot, contract law.  Like any of us need reminders that life is short and time is precious when we're stuck inside reading about contract law.  I hate you.

Future Attorneys of America: Peeing themselves with excitement

If ever I thought I was a little crazy with preparing the bar, I learned something yesterday that made me feel a lot better.  Not so much about what I am doing, but rather what I am NOT doing.  And that, my friends, is wearing diapers.


Yesterday morning I was speaking with one the associate directors of Barbri before class began.  We were discussing the terrible bathroom situation at the testing site and how there inevitably always really long lines.  I mentioned my plan to just not drink any water during the exam and rehydrate afterwards.  The associate director laughed.

"Every year, we get calls to our office asking about the bathroom situation," he confided.  "And every year, people ask if it's okay if they wear diapers during the exam.  Yes, it's okay, we tell them, but it's certainly not respectful to your neighbors."

DIAPERS.
Future lawyers are taking the bar exam while literally peeing themselves and then sitting in it for the rest of the exam.  Seriously.

You can't bring your cell phone into the testing facility but you can bring your Depends??!?  The bar exam is insane.

DO NOT WANT!

In case the meaning image is not clear, the kitten is me.  The evil dinosaur chew toy attacking the poor kitten is the NY bar.  This is stressing the kitten out.  Poor kitten.